The United States Government should Fund Stem Cell Research

Lalit A Patel

Since Columbus could not get support from his Italian government for a westward voyage to find a new route to India, he sought support from the Spanish government, and that is how Spain, and not Italy, could claim the new world discovered by him. Extrapolating this, one can say that if the United States government discourages stem cell research, which can lead to medical treatments for many chronic diseases, scientists might undertake that research under the sponsorship by and for the benefit of other governments. The United States government should encourage stem cell research in order to not lose its technological and economical supremacy.

Cells are biological functional building blocks, and stem cells are template cells that shape new specialized cells being produced in an organism. By altering stem cells of an organism, one can alter characteristics of specialized cells and, hence, characteristics of the organism (NIH, Goldberg). Since all stem cells of an organism are derived from a single embryonic stem cell, it would be sufficient, but not necessary, to alter the embryonic stem cell in order to alter all stem cells of the organism.

Compared to other routes, the use of stem cell research will greatly help healthcare professionals in treating patients suffering from diabetes, Parkinson’s disease, and many other chronic diseases. Thus today’s stem cell research will become a boon tomorrow for many human beings all over the world. Opponents of stem cell research argue that criminals and terrorists can misuse genetic manipulation enabled by the stem cell approach. One should not forget, however, that all great inventions and discoveries so far, including those of fire and wheel, have side effects, but these side effects are generally insignificant compared to their benefits. Human civilizations would have remained primitive if they had not ventured into new developments because of a fear that those developments could be harmful.

In order to carry out stem cell research, embryonic stem cells are needed. Getting embryonic stem cells of mice and some other animals is neither difficult nor controversial. However, the acquisition of human embryonic stem cells is a delicate issue, which has been fueling the stem cell research controversy. People not familiar with the research methodologies think that biological and medical researchers have to murder human beings for their research activities. This notion is largely due to scant interaction of researchers with others. Pioneering biological and medical scientists, who have immensely contributed to the understanding of human anatomy and physiology, got human corpses for their research by unearthing abandoned graveyards; no researcher or research institution has relied on or promoted the murdering of human beings. Likewise, stem cell research would rely on human embryos abandoned from miscarriages or available from other sources, but would never call for murder of human beings in the womb.

Perfecting the stem cell technology will take a few more years beyond the initial research and development phase. Until then, medical treatments based on stem cells may not be safe for mass application. Though worries about this initial period of lack of safety are reasonable, people worrying about such issues can benefit by looking at the history of technologies like X-rays and automobiles. Researchers and developers do not stop at having invented something; they continue their research and developmental activities to make products safe and reliable. Moreover, regulatory organizations and government agencies act as gate keepers and do not permit mass application of unsafe or unreliable products. This well-established methodology of triangular interaction amongst conceivers, controllers, and consumers would definitely ensure that outcomes of stem cell technology would be safe and reliable.

As far as economics is concerned, the government funding expected for stem cell research in the United States would be very meager in comparison to defense budgets and small in comparison to budgets for healthcare programs. The government funding is required on a limited scale for a limited time, primarily to send a signal that the government is permitting this research. Educational, industrial, and business organizations of the United States are quite mature and they understand their limitations and responsibilities. They would not indulge in any research or development not permitted by the government, and they would not hesitate to spend their resources to make gains in the future. At present, while anxiously waiting for a signal from the government, they are finding that their counterparts in other countries are moving fast in stem cell research. In order to prevent a situation where the United States lags behind many other countries in the stem cell technology, the government should extend a seed funding by way of a “go” signal for stem cell research.

Economic supremacy of the United States is largely due to technological advancements, such as airplanes, lasers, microprocessors, computers, software, etc. No organization or nation can afford to live on laurels of past achievements. Technological achievements form a path of an ongoing journey. Without remaining flexible and up-to-date in advancing in the technological forefront, the United States might have to import high-margin products and services from other countries, thereby ruining its economic position. Stem cell research has many medical wonders to reveal and is indeed a right path in the evolution of the human civilization. The United States should not wait and watch when many other countries are progressing with leaps and bounds.

Work Cited

Goldberg, Daniella. “Cloning Around with Stem Cells”. 2003. 8 October 2003. <http://abc.net.au/science/slab/stemcells/default.htm>.

NIH (National Institute of Health). “Stem Cell Basics”. 2003. 8 October 2003. <http://stemcells.nih.gov/infoCenter/stemCellBasics.asp#2>.